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Staying Alive Reviews

I LOVE IT! This film is hilarious and fun. Been watching since I was a kid. Love the dancing, love the soundtrack, and John Travolta never looked sexier. Man, can that dude DANCE. My mom and I squeal like little school girls when he struts at the end.

This movie is defiantly not a 0%. Ok it isn't Saturday Night Fever , but it does have some charm. Sly was very brave tackling the directors chair for this picture, a risk that didn't quite pay off. But hey the Risk alone is what's making me score this movie a solid 6.5/10. The risk didn't pay off, but hey gotta give this guy credit for trying. Travolta is giving it his all, during a time when he wasn't such the house hold name he once was. But in just 11 years his luck was going to change when he accepted the role of Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction, but that's another story for another day !!

I think this movie is overlooked. I can see Stallone's influence all over this. The tough luck kid Tony going up against the big guy (in this case the rich establishment)- kind of like Rocky. And the importance of family with the role of his mother- and seeing her redemption from the her tragic loss of believing her kids were all failures from the first movie. Also, the ability to want to see the tough luck kid overcome and succeed. I can see why Stallone took the part forward. What the movie really lacks is a strong score! The songs in retrospect are horrible and do nothing to carry the movie emotion forward. I would love to see this movie re done with a better score. Also, we need a completion of the story line! There needs to be a third movie to complete the trilogy.

This would be fine if Travolta wasn't phoning it in. He has no energy here whatsoever, is barely delivering his lines, clearly doesn't want to be there and has it out for Stallone due to jealousy or ego or whatever.

There are really some magic in this Masterpiece, i call this Masterpiece because its simplicity make it worth to watch specially the dance performance on the end. Its so easy, so easy dialogs, and even a "trash" story that can make this Film a cult Film. As a sequel of course its lame, but try not to see it as a second Movie, although there is a lot of hidden eastereggs of the first in it. The music was specially awesome!!!

Staying Alive (1983) ? 1/2Completely empty (and needless) follow-up to SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER is essentially an excuse to show off a series of mindless dance sequences, all of which contain not a single ounce of energy. Five years have passed, now Travolta's focused on a girl dancer and Broadway and . . . you can see the outcome coming miles away. You know you're in trouble when you can hardly remember a single thing from the movie even right after seeing it! Bad acting, embarrassing material. The Bee Gees couldn't even save this one.

The continuing saga of Tony Manero as he moved to Manhattan from Brooklyn to make it on Broadway as a dancer. An underdog story with Travolta, as Manero, not being likeable enough to really root for entirely. Film signalled a downturn for both Travolta and the Bee Gees, whose assortment of songs are overshadowed by Frank Stallone's high-intensity hit "Far From Over".

Despite being notoriously critically panned, a sequel to Saturday Night Fever (1977) directed by Sylvester Stallone sounded like an 80's-themed guilty pleasure on one level or another.

Saturday Night Fever is arguably a classic, and there is a rare occasion where a classic needs a sequel. In the six years that have passed since Saturday Night Fever, the decades have changed. The former disco craze popularized by Saturday Night Fever that existed in the 1970's has long since peaked, experiencing a backlash from rock music fans as well as the notorious Disco Demolition Night of 1979. In essence, the disco glory days are long behind the year of 1983 and so the film must instead adhere to something more appropriate to the time. This hardly makes sense because the disco music and dance of Saturday Night Fever is what made it so iconic and a sequel which completely removes that notion would seem pointless from the get go. It takes little time before anyone not already aware of this notion will realize it while watching the actual film. The intro scene kicks Staying Alive off with an "inspirational" 80's montage, a theme director Sylvester Stallone is all too familiar with. While Frank Stallone's "Far From Over" kicks the film off with life, the things actually being depicted are an endless barrage of confusing dance moves including a lot of necks which seem to violently circulate in an attempt to pop off the heads of the humans they sit atop of, as well as some epileptic arm movements. The immediate realization I got from seeing all this is that Staying Alive's predominant focus is to take the legacy established by its predecessor and soil it with an attempt to be more like 1983's critically panned Flashdance than its actual predecessor. Much of the drama in the film is routine material which has already been covered once before and doesn't need to be repeated, though it spends the majority of the film playing second-fiddle to its obsession with dance sequences.In Saturday Night fever, the material holding the film up outside of its dancing sequences were the cultural relevance of its setting, the multiple interesting characters and the genuine edge of gritty material. With Staying Alive, the film plays it way too safe and puts the burden essentially all on the shoulders of John Travolta and a collection of supporting players. If the cast is not wandering through the scenery at a slow pace and pondering the meaning of existence, they are performing some really strange dance sequences. Like I said before, it is a lot of awkward arm and head movements which Sylvester Stallone considers to be intelligent dance moves. They may edit into a montage nicely with Frank Stallone music, but there is no inspiration in the. And rather than capturing the dance scenes as the spectacle needed to actually support the film as some kind of a guilty pleasure, Staying Alive has its dance numbers shot as if they were part of a music video. It's enough that the dance scenes are already so strangely choreographed, but they are filmed no better even though they are the most entertaining scenes in the film. But it's clear as far back as the beginning that they are already burdened by a visual style which plagues Staying Alive throughout every moment. The entire film has a rather murky visual style. Almost surreal with its darkness, Staying Alive is so lacking in sensible lighting that there is constantly a sense of shadow overtaking everything, leaving the colour palette rather monochromatic. As well as that, anything which is not extremely close to the camera ends up blurred into the background as if camouflaged with the colours around them. Elements of the soundtrack may have appeal such as Frank Stallone's Golden Globe-nominated song "Far From Over" which is a piece so rich with 80's groove that it perfectly captures the tone Sylvester Stallone is going for, but Staying Alive is hardly a treat on the eyes or the mind despite a soundtrack with some decent songs.As a result of all this, the cast are left stranded in one-dimensional roles and perform as such.Returning to his Academy Award nominated role of Tony Manero, John Travolta offers little innovation to the role. While his muscular stature is impressive and his ability to dance with raw passion captures the hot-blooded spirit of the iconic character, the material offers him no new challenges. He simply brings back some of the dying spirit that gave him charm in Saturday Night Fever and milks them for what he can in Staying Alive, though it is hardly enough to breathe any real life into material this lacklustre. John Travolta's handsome appeal may reach die-hard fans, but he has nothing new to offer in the acting department.Finola Hughes is not a brilliant newcomer. Though she keeps her energy active during the awkward dance scenes, there is nothing of value to her character and little iconic outside of her English accent amongst a crowd of generic American voices. She has little distinctive about her, and her attempts to bring the melodrama to life come off simply as an odd mix of pompous and pretentious with no positive results on the film's dramatic credibility, if there is any in the first place. Finola Hughes brings nothing memorable to Staying Alive and fails to inspire any kind of sparks with John Travolta.Cynthia Rhodes ends up with some of the most tediously sentimental material in the film. And though she has a genuine feeling of humanity about her as well as an energetic physical spirit, she cannot transcend the heavy weight laid down on her by the poor script.

So though Staying Alive offers a distinctively 80's feeling thanks in part to the music of Frank Stallone, it is burdened by a story which goes nowhere but in in circles of decade-related cliches while abandoning the disco glory of the 1970's for a series of senseless dance sequences.

Staying Alive is one of the most shamefully excruciating and pointless sequels ever made. It seems unaware that what made Saturday Night Fever special was its emotional profundity and not the disco-floor sequences (which here are hopelessly bland).

Plot is thin, but the behind-the-scenes look at a Broadway dance show is interesting. Far too much time is spent on the actual show though, making you think that the whole movie may as well have been one big recording of a dance show.

Music is kind of cheesy, specially the music in the Broadway production.

Acting is so-so. Cynthia Rhodes gives probably the only convincing performance. John Travolta is his usual one-dimensional self and Finola Hughes is irritating.

Tony Manero and a fellow dancer are best friends and an -and-off again couple. They try out for a show together and Tony pursues a key crush and main character in the show. Tony and his best friend get minor parts in the show and Tony gets a date with the girl where they have sex, but then she wants no part of him. Tony has resentment to the girl and his best friend quickly becomes irritated.

"She's in good hands.""What are you, All State?""Yeah, want disability?"

Sylvester Stallone, director of Rocky II-IV, Rocky Balboa, Paradise Ally, and The Expendables, delivers Staying Alive. The storyline for this was entertaining and very fun to watch unfold. Some scenes seemed unrealistic, but others were fun. The conclusion could have been better. I enjoyed the acting and the cast includes John Travolta, Cynthia Rhodes, Finola Hughes, and Joyce Hyser.

"You know what I want to do?""What?""Strut."

I have been ashamed I haven't seen this for some time so I was excited to find this on Netflix. This was a fun film and is definitely dated (which is what makes this film work). Overall, this is a cheesy fun film that is worth a viewing and has some nostalgic magic like Dirty Dancing.

Okay, this is nowhere near as good as Saturday Night Fever. But there have been far bigger cinematic terds laid than this sequel (Beverly Hills Cop III, anyone?) What would have made it better? If it was written and made for an R rated audience. But what's here still works. Great 80's soundtrack with more Bee Gees, a committed, ripped John Travolta and Cynthia Rhodes and Finola Hughes are great as opposite interest in Tony's life. I like this movie. I think you will too.

*GUILTY PLEASURE KLAXON* Sylvester Stallone writes, produces, directs and cameos in a rather out there sequel to Saturday Night Fever.Tony Manero was a somebody in 70s Brooklyn. Now living in Manhattan, he is a wannabe Broadway dancer and actual part time dance class instructor/waiter. He meets a snooty dancer who is playing the lead in a show his girlfriend dances in and scores a part in her next show. A love triangle develops as Tony struggles with his own identity and shortcomings. Yada yada yada.How Tony Manero has gone from discotheque king to Broadway is anyone's guess, but you have to leave the last film at the door. What we have here is a high camp masterpiece complete with Frank Stallone music (and a bit part) and Bob Mackie costuming. It's mostly a showcase for Travolta's ass and lunchbox which are beautifully framed in a series of tight trousers. An absurd film, but up there in the "so bad it's good" pantheon.

½May 19, 2014

If you had 1000 pounds of melted Velveeta, you still wouldn't comeclose to equaling the cheese factor contained in this movie. Yeah it'sentertaining but entertaining in the most horrific way possible. It'sso different from Saturday Night Fever that it doesn't even feel like asequel. It's its own movie and director Sly Stallone for what its worth, probably didn't even watch the original. I could be wrong though.

As for Travolta in the lead, he's not horrible but now his Tony Manerois a nutrition and fitness freak. In the 70's he smoked, drank, andcussed. Now as a Broadway dancer in Staying Alive, he's mister goodietwo shoes and his character isn't half as angst ridden or edgy. He'sjust not as cool this time around.

Now as I mentioned earlier, this movie is sort of entertaining. Withthe focus on things pertaining more to a love triangle than actualdancing, there's something there that might actually be compulsivelywatchable. The script is filled with tacky, macho, substance freedialogue but eventually you'll surrender to the flick's effervescenceof campy goodness. Bottom line: Staying Alive is so campy, you mighthave to pitch a tent.